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59
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
DECEMBER
2015
2 15
BEST
PR
O
JECTS
Stable Roads at Geelkrans Nature Reserve
Project information
• Company entering: Terraforce
• Project start date: March 2013
• Project end date: October 2015
• Client: Cape Nature (Western Cape
Conservation Board)
• Project team: Cape Nature Geelkrans
Complex Management
• Main contractor: Cape Nature
• Project manager: Jean du Plessis
• Project value: R415 000
The client, Cape Nature was looking
for a permanent, yet flexible solu-
tion for jeep tracks on deep sandy
substrates at Geelkrans Nature Reserve,
Stillbaai, without the associated footprint
impacts of commonly used hard structures
such as asphalt or paving.
Mobicast, Terraforce licensee in the
Garden Route area, suggested the Terrac-
rete paving block, a permeable and inter-
locking eco-surface paver that can be laid
in different patterns and may be used with
or without ground anchors for the lining of
riverbanks, roads and other areas subjects
to soil erosion.
The blocks where installed to form a
two-wheel jeep track as an erosion control
and maintenance measure for existing sand
tracks. Says Jean du Plessis, conservation
manager, Geelkrans Cluster & Stilbaai Marine
Protected Area: “We have a network of main-
tenance jeep tracks that give us access to
the different sections of the reserve. The
substrate is mostly deep dune sand, making
it inadequate to surface with normal paving.
Putting down a road base foundation and
or compacting have been proven to be very
costly due to the nature of the substrate.
“Investigating
alternative
solutions
produced the principle of putting down a
‘hard’ surface that is permeable for water
and vegetation. The idea is also that the
surfacing material should then be able to
move with the substrate while keeping its
shape and integrity. We decided to use the
Terracrete blocks because of their perme-
able nature, minimal impact on the environ-
ment and cost-effectiveness.”
The blocks are relatively easy to work
with, compared to other methods that
involve more sophisticated machinery
and labour. Says Du Plessis: “We do get
breaking of about 2% of the blocks during
handling as the transport of the blocks to
the target areas does require a minimum of
two loading/offloading processes due to the
nature of the terrain, but on the whole the
process is straightforward and causes very
little disturbance in the reserve, which is
what we were looking for. Another benefit is
that the blocks, if they do break, are easy to
replace, making maintenance of the tracks
quick and easy.”
Construction commenced in March 2013
and is still ongoing. The tracks are installed
in stages of 250 m each, with 7 000 blocks
already laid down. To rehabilitate any desta-
bilisation that did occur during construction,
Carpobrotus edulis
(Sour Fig) were planted
on the verges of the jeep track.
Also entered Category
E